Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (episode)
The crew of the Enterprise find themselves caught in the middle of an intractable conflict with a bizarre fugitive alien and his equally belligerent pursuer. Summary Teaser On a decontamination mission to the planet Ariannus, the encounters a shuttlecraft reported as stolen from Starbase 4. The vessel's life support systems are failing and the pilot may be suffocating in the lack of atmosphere. Captain Kirk orders that the shuttlecraft be brought aboard. When the pilot emerges and subsequently collapses, he displays a unique appearance; black on the left side of his face and white on the other. Act One Brought to sickbay, the pilot is revived by Dr. McCoy and identifies himself as Lokai from the planet Cheron. Although grateful for the rescue, he is combative when questioned about the theft of the shuttlecraft. Concluding that Lokai's coloration is a mutation of some kind, Kirk plans to return Lokai to Starbase 4 to face theft charges once the Arrianus mission is completed. En route, however, sensors pick up a highly sophisticated (and invisible) vessel on an apparent collision course with the Enterprise. At the last moment before impact, the ship appears to disintegrate, but deposits its pilot on the bridge; Commissioner Bele – is similar in appearance to Lokai but his black and white skin colors are reversed. Act Two Bele identifies himself as an official from the Commission on Political Traitors from Cheron, who has come to apprehend Lokai. When Bele is brought to sickbay to see Lokai, we learn that Bele has been pursuing Lokai for a long time; 50,000 Earth years as it turns out. Bele charges that Lokai led a revolt of people who are black on the left side against the ruling order, which is black on the right side. Lokai counters that the black/right (white/left) order enslaved the white/right (black/left) people of Cheron and continues to oppress them. Bele demands that Kirk surrender Lokai, while Lokai claims political asylum with the Federation. Kirk ends the bickering and submits a report to Starfleet Command, looking for a solution. Bele is not satisfied with the situation and commandeers the Enterprise by using his mental powers to drive the ship to Cheron. Kirk is forced to activate the self-destruct sequence in order to force Bele to relinquish control of the ship. Act Three Having failed through confrontation, both Bele and Lokai attempt to enlist the sympathies of the crew while en route to Ariannus. Starfleet's answer is at last received. Since Cheron has no diplomatic treaties with the Federation, Starfleet cannot hand over Lokai without due process. Once the decontamination mission is complete, however, Bele sabotages the self-destruct program and regains control of the ship, headed for Cheron once more. Act Four Upon arrival at Cheron, however, sensors reveal massive destruction of all major cities and huge piles of unburied corpses - the entire population of Cheron has mutually annihilated itself in civil war. Blaming each other for the holocaust, Bele and Lokai fight, despite Kirk's offer for them to live with the Federation. The pair then chase each other through the ship, each eventually finding the transporter room and returning to the planet's surface to continue their fight... the last two sapient lifeforms on a dead world. Log entries *''Captain's log, stardate 5730.2. The planet Ariannus is vital as a transfer point on regular space commercial lanes. It has been attacked by a bacterial invasion which threatens to render it lifeless unless checked. Our mission, to decontaminate it. '' *''Captain's log, stardate 5730.6. In a deliberate act of sabotage, Commissioner Bele has burned out our destruct mechanism and, through the power of his will, has again taken over directional control of the Enterprise.'' *''Captain's log, stardate 5730.7. Having completed our mission to Ariannus, the Enterprise is now on course to Starbase 4. The crew is on normal routine and we are proceeding without incident. '' Memorable quotes "When in doubt, the book prevails, Mister Spock. I've run tests. Blood is blood, even when it's green like yours." : - McCoy, on treating Lokai "I'm grateful for your rescue." "Don't mention it. We're pleased to have caught you." : - Lokai and Kirk, in sickbay "You monotone humans are all alike. First you condemn and then attack!" : - Lokai, upset with Kirk's accusations "I am captain of this ship, and it will follow whatever course I set for it, or I will order its destruction." "You're bluffing." "I will destroy it!" : - Kirk and Bele "You can no more destroy this ship than I can change color." : - Bele, to Kirk "Disgusting is what I call them." "That description is not scientifically accurate." "Mister Spock, the word disgusting describes exactly what I feel about those two." : - Scott and Spock, on Bele and Lokai "There was persecution on Earth once. I remember reading about it in my history class." "Yes, but it happened way back in the twentieth century. There's no such primitive thinking today." : - Chekov and Sulu, trying to understand Cheron's civil war "You're black on one side and white on the other." "I am black on the right side." "I fail to see the significant difference." "Lokai is white on the right side. All of his people are white on the right side." : - Kirk and Bele "Change is the essential process of all existence." : - Spock, to Bele "I once heard that on some of your planets, people believe they are descended from ... apes." "The actual theory is that all lifeforms evolved from the lower levels to the more advanced stages." : - Bele and Spock, on evolution "What do you do? Carry justice on your tongues? You will beg for it, but you won't fight or die for it!" "After so many years, you seem very much alive." "I doubt the same can be said for many of his followers." : - Lokai, pleading with the Enterprise crew to kill Bele : - Kirk'''and '''Spock "You're dead! You half-white!" "You useless pieces of bland flesh! I'll take you with me! You half-black!" : - Bele and Lokai, before lunging at each other "Bele..." "He must not escape me" "Where can he go?" : - Kirk'''and '''Bele and Spock after Loki flees the bridge; Bele glances at Charon "But the cause they fought about no longer exists. Does it matter now which one was right?" "All that matters to them is their hate." "Do you suppose that's all they ever had, sir?" "No, but that's all they have left." : - Sulu, and Spock, Uhura and Kirk, after Bele and Lokai arrive on the dead planet Background Information * The original story concept did not depict the aliens with bi-colored skin. Fred Freiberger recalled, "Gene Coon originally had a devil with a tail chasing an angel." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 74) Episode director Jud Taylor came up with the idea of bi-colored skin shortly before the episode began filming. His original suggestion was that they be half-black/half-white, one color from the waist up and the other from the waist down, but each wearing reversed color schemes. The central idea stuck but the colors were finally separated along the vertical axis rather than along the horizontal. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 399-400) * Following his tenure on the show, producer Fred Freiberger stated that this was one of the episodes that he was the most proud of working on.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY5Ls6F0Xik&p=B2246EE90736AB16&playnext=1&index=13 * Bele and Lokai have brown hair on their head, but their eyebrows are black and white to match their faces. * This episode represents the last on-screen appearance of the hangar deck in the original series. The shuttlecraft makes one last appearance on the planet set of . * Effects footage from was re-used for all of the original episode's shuttlecraft shots. As a result, despite dialog stating that the shuttlecraft had been stolen from Starbase 4, the shuttlecraft tractor-beamed into the hangar deck was labeled Galileo NCC-1701/7. In the remastered version of the episode, the stolen shuttlecraft's front and sides markings were corrected to show Starbase 4 as its post. This CGI version of the shuttlecraft was labeled da Vinci after the noted Renaissance scientist Leonardo da Vinci and had SB4-0314/2 as its new registry number. * Gene L. Coon's association with the series ended with the production of this episode. As with all of his contributions to the third season, the story was credited to one of his his pen names, Lee Cronin. * This episode was filmed in early . * No other episode in the original series features close-ups of the Enterprise model. Zoom shots from below and above the saucer section are used, representing some of the rare 'beauty shots' of the ship filmed during the series (episodes and have unique shots of the Enterprise as well). During the opening credits in the first scene, for example, the camera glides underneath the saucer to an extreme closeup of the saucer's phaser section and light. * The self-destruct sequence from this episode is repeated exactly in ; however, in Search for Spock, it is Scott who gives the second command in place of Spock, and Chekov who gives the third command instead of Scott. (The Star Trek Compendium 4th ed., p. 123) * In a syndication cut which was only used by the Sci-Fi Channel, the self-destruct sequence is considerably trimmed where Kirk activates the entire destruct sequence by himself and then in the next scene he is giving the activation code for the countdown. In the normal syndication broadcast which appeared on network television, the entire destruct sequence can be heard. * The final chase scene depicting Lokai and Bele running through the corridors of the Enterprise is mixed with stock footage of burning cities filmed after WW II aerial bombing raids, as each visualizes the destruction of their shared home planet. Fred Freibereger stated, "We ran a little short on that show which is why it ended with a chase that went on forever. I thought it was a hell of a creative solution". (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 74) * Bele's totally "invisible" ship perhaps is the most noticeable effect of the biggest budget cut in the original series. (The Star Trek Compendium 4th ed., p. 123) * The close-up of Chekov's hand operating the decontamination of Ariannus is a recycled shot of Kirk's hand from (also used as Spock's hand both in and ). * The director included a unique effect in this episode. During the "red alerts," the camera zoomed in and out quickly on the blinking red alert signal, and was tilted at an angle. According to several sources, among them The Star Trek Compendium, this effect allegedly paid homage to Frank Gorshin's role as the Riddler in Batman. * In the third season blooper reel, several sequences from this episode are featured. In one, Frank Gorshin does a James Cagney imitation while on the transporter pad. In another, he and Lou Antonio collide forcefully as they are running through the corridors. (The Star Trek Compendium 4th ed., p. 123) Finally, footage of nude swimmers in a pool was inserted at the point where Kirk asks, "Could it be a Romulan ship, using their cloaking device?" * Both Bele and Lokai wear gloves the entire episode. * In some editions of Allan Asherman's The Star Trek Compendium , this episode is incorrectly titled "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield." * In the 1970s, the Mego toy company created a "Cheron" action figure doll, but unlike Bele and Lokai's makeup and costuming, the doll had no hair, and its costume was entirely half-black and half-white, right down to the boots. * The first story outline was submitted one week after the release of the final report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commision after its chair, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, Jr., which President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed in the wake of the rebellion in Detroit, Michigan, from July 23-27, 1967, the worst social uprising in U. S. history up to that point. Johnson directed the commission to determine the causes of such urban disorders, which had become annual spring and summer events since 1963, and make recommendations to prevent their recurrence. The central thesis of the report was: "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal." Johnson, however, was mired in a military and political quagmire in Vietnam, which was becoming increasingly costly in blood and treasure and draining resources, attention and support from his ambitious Great Society social programs. Rejecting the commission's recommendation to pour greater financial resources into addressing the causes of racial injustice and inequality, Johnson, breaking protocol, refused to meet with the commissioners or allow them to present their report to him in person. Production timeline * Story outline by Lee Cronin, originally entitled "A Portrait in Black and White" * Story outline by Lee Cronin, * Teleplay by Oliver Crawford, * Revised teleplay by Oliver Crawford, * Filmed in early Video and DVD releases * Original US Betamax release: * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 36, catalog number VHR 2432, * US VHS release: * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.5, * Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 35, * As part of the TOS Season 3 DVD collection Links and references Starring * William Shatner as Kirk Also starring * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock :And: * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Guest stars * Frank Gorshin as Bele * Lou Antonio as Lokai * James Doohan as Scott * Walter Koenig as Chekov * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * George Takei as Sulu * Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel Uncredited co-stars * William Blackburn as Hadley * Frank da Vinci as Brent * Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli * Jeannie Malone as Yeoman References 20th century; Ariannus; ape; bacteria; blood; Cheron; Cheron native; Cheron scout vessel; Civil Rights Movement; class F shuttlecraft; Coalsack; command frequency 2; Commission on Political Traitors; commissioner; Da Vinci; death warrant; destruct sequence; directional control; due process; evolution; extinction; extradition; genocide; hangar deck; history; hull breach; intergalactic treaty; lava; logic; master computer; master race; memory bank; Mendel; Ministry of Health; nucleotide; oxygen; political asylum; racism; recreation room; recuperative powers; Romulans; sabotage; sapient lifeform; scope; sentience; shields; skin; slavery; spray tank; Starbase 4; Starfleet Command; stealth; theft; tractor beam; United Federation of Planets; United Fleet of Planets; vocal cords; volcano; Vulcan (planet); Vulcans. External link * |next= |lastair= |nextair= |lastair_remastered= |nextair_remastered= }} de:Bele jagt Lokai es:Let That Be Your Last Battlefield fr:Let That Be Your Last Battlefield ja:TOS:惑星セロンの対立 nl:Let That Be Your Last Battlefield pl:Let That Be Your Last Battlefield Category:TOS episodes